Hosting Visitors, Students, and Scholars

Hosting visitors in research areas may increase security risks. Follow these best practices to safely host visitors, students, and scholars. Preparing to host Work with your department business office to complete the appropriate packets for any visitor. Review resources for hosting international visitors. Develop an access plan for data and equipment the visitor needs access […]

Effective and Secure Collaborations

Collaborative research, especially internationally collaborative research, continues to be a fundamental principle of research. Collaborative research broadens the depth of information and results, strengthening the research enterprise, researchers, and the United States. Avoiding international collaborations out of fear or unwillingness to take necessary precautions reduces the overall quality of research. Research security practices should be […]

Study Design Best Practices

Organize your study to provide the clearest possible answer, then trust in the objectivity of the data rather than looking for the desired outcome. Ensure the target population is fully represented (e.g. if the study researches impacts on all adults, do not gather data just from a single sex or age). Minimize risks to subjects, […]

Documenting Research Activity

Designing a quality study, collecting data, and analyzing that data is the foundation of research. Comprehensive documentation of these processes is key to producing rigorous, responsible, and reproducible research. Because research can take years to complete and can go through many refinements, it is important to thoroughly document the entire research record.  Documentation is not […]

Responsible Conduct of Research Policy

Effective: 03/31/2025Created: 01/04/2009 Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) fosters ethical principles, professional standards, and best practices guiding researchers to conduct their work with integrity, transparency, and accountability. WashU offers specific RCR online education that encompasses Research Integrity, Mentorship, Study Design & Data Management, Research Security, Authorship & Publication, and Peer Review. Ethical research practices also […]